Grounds Crew Keeps Campus Beautiful, Builds Community

Blossoming flower trees, green grass and warmer weather are slowly pushing winter away. As the campus begins to welcome spring, one department stands out for their effort in the welcoming — the grounds crew. The grounds crew scored high in last semester’s satisfaction surveys. Their work to keep the campus beautiful has been noticed and appreciated by many.

Bible and theology major Michael Len works as a member of the grounds crew. He has been a member since his first semester at Multnomah two years ago. Some of the work Len could possibly do on any given day includes raking leaves, trimming rose bushes, mowing lawns and doing general cleanup around campus.

However, what makes this job fun to Len is the community around it. There are normally five other grounds crew members working alongside him throughout the year. “The community built when we talk about life while we do something like raking leaves with each other is great,” says Len. The grounds crew, he adds, enjoys playing small pranks on each other. And they all love their boss, Grounds Manager Ron Casey. “He treats us like family and genuinely cares about us,” says Len.

Casey’s favorite part of working as the grounds supervisor is getting to know the students and interacting with them, especially in the summer time. “Over the summer, we have a good routine where we meet in the morning and pray and read Scripture together for 20 minutes,” says Casey. “It is great to see answered prayers come around when we are together.”

With solid leadership and a close-knit community, the grounds crew is able to keep the campus of MU beautiful and welcoming. The individuals who work there find enjoyment in doing some of the “dirty work” on campus as they spend time in their Bibles and with each other. The hard work has not gone unnoticed, and the MU community is quite thankful for the daily tasks completed by the grounds crew.

April 20, 2017 | News